We did it: appeal reaches target

When we launched the campaign - sponsored by the Wakefield Express, The Rotary Club of Wakefield Chantry and CAP - we were following two very successful years that saw us collect, pack and distribute 500 hampers in 2014 and more than 800 in 2015.

This year, provisional figures show we have 1,018 hampers which will be confirmed next week. All the credit must go to readers of the Express and its sister papers - individuals, groups and firms who pulled together to help reach our target.

Volunteers from the Rotary and pupils and staff from Ackworth School have now delivered the hampers to the Early Help Hubs ready for distribution to families most in need.

Kevin Dobson, centre manager at CAP, said: “The logistics of collecting, packing, storing and delivering such a large number of hampers was way beyond anything we had attempted before. But with really good planning all around, with help from local groups and companies and with the provision of storage for the finished hampers at Camel Pre-Cast in Kinsley, we have achieved that ambitious target.”

Elizabeth Hibbert, who founded CAP with husband Ernest, said “The generosity of Express readers across the whole of the Five Towns is frankly astounding. To reach this number of families, who without this may not have been able to enjoy Christmas, is truly wonderful. A big thank you goes to Chantry Rotary club volunteers for their organisation and help with the packing and distribution, to the Wakefield Express newspapers for supporting the appeal and to the Early Help staff who distribute the hampers.”